On Grumbling???

This could have happened…

Just about 1600 years ago the Roman empire came crashing down in Great Britain. For over 400 years before that young men from all over southern Europe were conscripted into that Roman army and sent all over…east and west…north and south to protect its borders. And as the bard said, “herein lies the rub.”

In a text study and looking through the Koine’ Greek New Testament I discovered the verb, “GUGGIDZO”…at least that’s how it would be spelled and pronounced in English. This verb is used sparingly in Paul’s writings and comes with a caution… “stay away from the ‘grumblers’ and the ‘mumurrers’… in other words…don’t get too close to “THE GUGGIDZO!” It is also the reaction of the crowd when Jesus called Zacchaeus out of the tree and invited himself to dinner! And that’s when the light bulb went on for me in reflecting how easy I am to grumble and mumur… perhaps it’s just in my DNA…and overcoming DNA is hard work…

So here is what I’m thinking…1600 years ago some young Greek guy was conscripted into Caesar’s army and was forced to march north to the British Isles grumbling the whole way…he got there…the roads were crude…it was cold and damp…more winter than summer…nothing like home along the Mediterranean beaches…and the food…don’t even remind me of the food…

He got no mail from home, his clothes were in shabby shape. His best friend was gored to death by a wild boar and then the whole Roman empire began to crumble and he was left stranded in Scotland with no money or means to go home… and his grumbling was perfected…

So, he remained there, married a local girl…the man known as “The Guggidzo” in time became the man whose family was called Gygges… they worked hard, acquired land and were given their family crest by the King Edward IV of England in 1477 at Norfolk and a hundred or so years later in the early 1700′s some of the young Giggie lads made their way to America…they kept migrating from Nova Scotia into New England, NY and to Ohio…some even ended up west of the big muddy Mississippi River…

In time one of those descendants met a girl whose family was from Germany and now lived in NE Ohio…they would be my parents…

So, when folks roll their eyes at me when I grumble, murmur and moan…just remind them… “have mercy on Gigee…it’s in his DNA and he fights it all the time…”

…and the good news is this…in recent scientific study it has been noted that men who grumble have a tendency to live longer…

Grumbling today less than yesterday…and especially when it’s needed… Brian